Was Saudi Arabia’s Top Spy Assassinated?

Were Saudi Arabia’s new intelligencechief and his deputy assassinated inan explosion in the Saudi capital,Riyadh, on July 26? So far the country’s leaders have refused to even address the question,and intelligence services around the worldhave remained tight-lipped about the story.

If the rumors are true, who was behind the assassination of the man who has played a centralpart in funneling arms to Syrian rebels and Iranianopposition groups?

Rumors that Saudi Arabia’s intelligence chief, Crown Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdul-Aziz AlSaud, met his end, first surfaced in the Paris-based website the Voltaire Network, and later in the DEBKAfile, an Israeli-based web publicationknown for breaking stories about intelligence matters. They claimed the killing of the two Saudi figureshappened within Saudi intelligence headquarters.

At first, it was suggested that Syria killed Bandar for masterminding the July 18, 2012 bombingin Damascus that killed four members of SyrianPresident Bashar al Assad’s inner circle, including his defense minister and deputy.

The linking of Syria to the reported death of Bandar was inevitable, given the fact that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)and Israel’s Mossad have used Bandar to funnelweapons to the rebels trying to topple the Syriangovernment.

Other news organizations speculated that Iran was behind Bandar’s demise, arguing the Iranianshad every reason to target Saudi intelligence,which was assisting the CIA and Mossad in their Middle East operations. Iran’s intelligence servicespossess the skills to penetrate the headquarters of Saudi intelligence. Therefore, it is speculated thatthey undertook the operation as a quid pro quo foryears of support from their ally, Syria. Iran has also refused to respond to the allegation that its peoplewere involved. Instead, an Iranian publication reportedBandar was being investigated for bribery by the U.S. Justice Department at the time of hisassassination.

Close observers of the intelligence world have been startled that even in Moscow, where rich gossipcan be mined, no one in the FSB, the KGB’ssuccessor, or the GRU, the country’s military intelligence, has been willing to talk openly aboutthe mystery.

Forgotten in all of the theories was the fact Bandarhad many enemies in the Islamic world. Hewas a complicated figure, best known to the American media as a flamboyant Saudi ambassador toWashington for two decades. He loved the highlife, the Dallas Cowboys and was a personal friend of the Bush family.

In 2005, Bandar was called home from Washingtonby the Saudi royal family when it becameclear he was the focus of a trans-Atlantic inquiryinto a bribery scandal. He quickly faded from the headlines but was busy working with the CIA and Mossad monitoring Iran.

More recently, prior to his appointment as intelligence chief, he was a key figure in combatingthe Arab spring in the region and devising a way to ensure Saudi Arabia and its closest allies did notsuccumb to change.

Sooner or later, the Saudis may feel compelled to tell the world if Bandar is alive or dead. If he isdead, they may be as confused as the rest of usabout who killed him.